Who We Are

We believe that the more trust and understanding we bring to the natural, extraordinary process of pregnancy and childbirth, the more powerful and life-enhancing your experience of it can be.

We aim to inspire you to have confidence in your body’s innate ability to give birth, whether at home or in hospital. Your pregnancy will bring you instinctive wisdom; our intention is to provide you with relevant knowledge and tools to support, nurture and empower both you and your partner. This will allow you to make informed decisions naturally and carefully, from a balanced, positive perspective, so that you can look forward to the birth of your baby with optimism, confidence and joy.

Our Approach

Encourages trust in the natural wisdom of your body

Provides you with essential knowledge and understanding

Includes Pregnancy Yoga, the ultimate preparation for birth, aligning your mind-body connection, in addition to the wonderful breathing techniques it brings

Promotes the Active Birth principles of learning through your body

Recognises the spiritual and transformative power of birth as a rite of passage

Gives you and your partner useful, practical skills in preparation for birth and parenthood

Our knowledge and inspiration has been accumulated over many years and from many specialists in the field of birth. We focus especially on the teaching of Janet Balaskas, founder of the Active Birth movement, of which we are associate members. We teach the Active Birth for couples workshop, which is FEDANT approved.

Patricia Whitworth and Karin Walters have many years’ experience supporting women and their partners through pregnancy, birth and motherhood, and have extensive knowledge of the challenges that can arise along the way. They created Birthwise in 2004 to combine their passion for empowering women to have meaningful and positive birth experiences. They continue to support and inspire each other.

Janine Gassmann

Gaby Sweet

A little feedback

“Attending the classes run by the team at Birthwise in Exeter, and employing their fabulous doulas, were some of the wisest decisions we have ever made. We are eternally grateful - the birth of our daughter was such a positive and empowering experience"

Karin Walters

I have two beautiful sons and it was during my own pregnancies that I attended Active Birth classes and found it so helpful, inspiring and empowering. This sent me on a path of wanting to pass on the techniques and the loving support to other women and their partners during the transformative life event of giving birth and become parents. I trained as a Doula in 1998 and a Natural Active Birth and Parenting (NAPAB) teacher in 1999. I have been teaching classes since January 2001 and to this day continue to feel passionate about teaching and promoting positive birth.

I teach Active Birth with Yoga, Active Birth Intensive workshops and 1-2-1's, Motherhood Gatherings and I also offer Pregnancy massage and Zero Balancing, Motherhood treatments and Birth recovery sessions. I joined Doula UK in June 2015 and am a recognised birth doula.

I am a qualified nurse, Massage Therapist and Zero Balancer. Together with my husband, Richard, I run The Natural Health Practice on Spicer Road in Exeter. Since qualifying with NABAP, I have done further training with Jean Sutton, Michel Odent, Gail Tully, Mary Cronk, Suzanne Colson, Jane Mackarness and other leading specialists in the maternity field. I have been an associate member of The Active Birth Centre in London since qualifying and I am authorised by Janet Balaskas to teach her Active Birth workshop, which is FEDANT approved.

Alongside Richard I have over the years developed and taught Zero Balancing in Pregnancy to other qualified Zero Balancers. Zero Balancing is a wonderful therapy for supporting women through the whole process of conception, pregnancy, birth and postnatal recovery.

I love yoga and have been committed to practising Iyengar yoga since 2003. I am originally from Denmark and have lived in Devon since 1992.

Patricia Whitworth

After a fairly clinical yet normal first birth, I regretted not being better informed and prepared, so throughout my second pregnancy on my midwife’s advice I attended Active Birth and Pregnancy Yoga classes. The classes completely opened my eyes and provided me with all the tools I needed to enable me to have a positive, empowering and satisfying second birth. Having experienced birth as it’s meant to be, I felt a burning desire to pass on that knowledge, support and wisdom and trained as an Active Birth Yoga teacher (2004) and Doula (2001).

As well as my weekly Pregnancy Yoga and Active Birth classes, I provide Active Birth intensive workshops for couples or 1-2-1 workshops. I also offer 1-2-1 sessions to help with baby positioning issues, and post-natal motherhood gatherings.

Most of my “real” learning about birth has come first-hand via the many women I have had the enormous privilege of supporting as a Doula, but here are my official qualifications:

Kate Wren

My introduction to the benefits of placentophagy (ingesting the placenta) came in 2001 when I trained in Natural Nutrition. Since then I have studied with Barefoot Birthing and Soul Treefruits, read all that I can find relating to placentas and trained as a Placenta Encapsulation Specialist with Placenta Benefits. My greatest understanding of placentas though has come through having my 3 children.

Having not managed to prepare my placenta in time the first time around in the hubbub and excitement of new parenthood I can recommend outsourcing this job. I hadn’t guessed just how busy one beautiful, tiny, mostly sleeping person could make me. Disappointed as I was not to consume that first placenta it has given me a useful comparison as I took placenta capsules after my other births. I know that in my body placentophagy brings more stable milk production, significantly less lochia, better mood, increased energy and calm.

I call placenta encapsulation my oxytocin work as every placenta brings with it a buzz of that love hormone as it briefly visits my home. I feel very fortunate to be asked to do this work.

Janine Gassman

When I was pregnant with my first child, I started to question common beliefs and practices in pregnancy, childbirth and (early) parenting, which led me to adopt an approach as natural as possible.

I see my role as a doula to support you to birth and parent your way, with encouragement and without judgement. I am not here to advise or draw conclusions. What I will do is assist you to explore information, evidence and options so you can make informed decisions, which are right for you and your baby.

I believe that childbirth is a natural process, not a disaster waiting to happen – women have been giving birth since the beginning of time.

Qualifications:

I am a qualified holistic childbirth educator, birth and postnatal doula and trained with Birthing Wisdom.

I am a qualified breastfeeding peer supporter with Action for Children; providing mother-to-mother support and information to breastfeeding mothers and mothers-to-be who are interested in breastfeeding.

I hold a Certificate in Counselling awarded by the Iron Mill Institute.

I hold an advanced DBS disclosure.

I offer Information as well as continuous physical, emotional and practical support before, during and after birth

Gaby Sweet

Hello! I live in a big old farmhouse in beautiful East Devon with my husband and our little tribe of three boys.
We have a very wild garden with a very tall tree house. I love to observe people and their families and tell their stores through photos. I care passionately about positive birth and beginnings for all families and take everything I learnt in my years as a doula into my photography work. Birth never fails to completely blow my mind and I still cry every time. It's the best thing in the world to witness and even better to capture!